I can't pinpoint exactly what started this organizing adventure, but now that I've started I don't want to stop. I recently started listening to podcasts while I'm at work or washing dishes, and have really fallen in love with ClutterBug.me. Cass has a blog and Youtube channel in addition to her podcasts, and she is a fountain of knowledge and advice! Her podcasts and videos have been a great help in figuring out where to start.
For me I find that when the house is in a state of chaos my mind is also a wreck. I feel like I'm going in 10 different directions and I'm not quite sure what I should be doing. Not to mention it makes cleaning a momentous task that I try to avoid like to plague because it takes FOREVER. I also find that the clutter makes the house feel claustrophobic. If you think about it, when you see pictures of beautifully staged homes in magazines or on Pinterest, there is never a ton of stuff in the room. Just the base essential furniture and a couple décor items or accent pieces. We Pin those photos to our "dream house" board and wish we lived in a house like that. But we can by getting rid of the clutter!! Nobody wants their house to look like an episode of Hoarders. At the same time there are things that I don't want to get rid of, so I need to find an attractive way to store them so it doesn't look so cluttered.
The first thing I did before I got started was purge! Get rid of anything you don't need. That giant mixing bowl I got when I graduated high school that I could literally bathe Roman in and I've never used, time to sell it. All those toys Roman gets in his Happy Meals that I keep because maybe one day he'll want to play with it again, donate them. The tank tops that I've been hanging on to because there might be an occasion at some point I want to wear it to, let's face it, it's never coming. When I stopped thinking about how much things cost, who gave it to me, and emotional attachment to things, it was a lot easier to get rid of things. A lot of this stuff has been with us since we moved into our house three years ago, and if I haven't used it in three years, obviously I never will.
If you're house is anything like mine, organizing on a large scale is no small task. I know it's going to take a long time to go through everything and get it all sorted and looking all purdy. My plan of attack is to tackle small areas at a time; entertainment stand, toy bins, baking cupboard. If I didn't have two kids "helping" me, I would probably attempt to do entire rooms at a time, but for the time being I think small is the way to go.
On the topic of getting rid of things and living with less. I recently made a trip to my favoritest (yes I know that's not a word) store in the whole, wide world; Dollarama! It also happens to be Roman's favorite store as well. Usually I let him pick something out because "it's only $1.25", but on this trip I decided we weren't getting anything. With my purging going so well, I didn't want to bring more stuff into the house. Of course Roman asked for something in just about every isle. I explained to him that we were just looking today and that we weren't buying anything. I managed to make it out of the store with him without and major meltdowns, which was actually pretty spectacular. Having Roman listen when I say "no" is something we've been struggling with so I was really proud of him. As we left the store, with all our tears still in our tear ducts, I couldn't help but notice the feeling of.... what's the word I'm looking for....relief, that I felt leaving the store. Which is a really odd feeling to get when you leave a store. I mean, it's not like there are high-pressure, commissioned sales people working at Dollarama trying to sell me another chatchkie that I really don't need. It was eye opening to me to finally see that I really didn't need the things that I usually buy. I've been buying things that I think I'll have a use for at some point, and then they just take up space in the house. So from now on I'm only going to buy things that I have a use for at that exact moment. I'm really hoping writing that last sentence down, and sharing it with the world, makes it easier...
Okay, I'm starting to sound crazy, but I think it's time to wrap this ramble up. I'll link all the organization posts I do at the bottom of this post so that they are easily accessible if you're interested to see how it all works out. At the very least you should probably check them out because it's the only time you will ever see photos of some of the dark corners of the house that I NEVER let people see, mostly because they are a disaster.
Organization: Under the Sink
Organization: Dressers
Organization: Bathroom Vanity
Organization: Linen Closet
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